‘Red Band Society’ Series Finale: Show Exec Explains How Things Would Have Been ‘Different’ Had Series Received More Episodes [PHOTO]
The drama concerning the patients at Ocean Park Hospital may have come to a close, but it doesn't mean that the Executive Producer of the short-lived Red Band Society got to see things conclude exactly how she wanted.
Watch As The Patients At Ocean Park Embark On Their Final Adventures
The drama series bowed on Feb. 7 with a two-hour finale, following poor ratings throughout the Fall, and a failed attempt on FOX's part to keep the show alive in either a new format or to find it a new home somewhere else. And though things seemed to end on a more positive note-with Kara (Zoe Levin) doing well following her gift of a heart transplant from the recently deceased Hunter (Daren Kagasoff), Leo (Charlie Rowe) being accepted into a clinical trial to combat his recently returned cancer, Jordi (Nolan Sottillo) headed into a life-changing surgery, Emma (Ciara Bravo) having a breakthrough with her mother, and Charlie (Griffin Gluck) regaining his ability to speak and being given his discharge papers, there were things EP Rina Mimoun admits she had hoped to explore differently.
In an interview with TV Line, she admits that things would have been more traditional following Emma's arc, and the situation with her mother would have likely been explored a bit earlier.
The Identity Of Ocean Park's Dying Patient Is Revealed
"..That was unfortunately the product of when we were conceiving the storyline, we brought her mom in in Episode 10-thinking that we were going to be doing more episodes," she said. "If' I'm being totally honest, in a perfect world, it's not the finale story that I would've wanted to tell for Emma. I would've wanted to move one beat beyond it, but [since we had limited time], it was so important to wrap up the situation with her family. It superseded what would've been a more traditional season finale for that character."
"So, byt the time we found out [about the episode order being cut to 13]...oh my God, she got into this horrible fight with her mother, and she's back in the hospital, and we have to solve that," she continued. "We just can't leave Emma and her mom hating each other. So, again, that particular storyline would not necessarily have been my ideal season finale, but I'm glad we told it."
Mimoun also revealed that she was sad that Dash (Astro) never got to really have a big storyline-and she truly had hoped to explore more of his relationship with Mae (Jessica Lu), but the cut in episodes prevented it from happening.
"I would have enjoyed playing out the arc of Dash and Mae, I would've really liked to see where that went because I did feel like Dash's character got shortchanged somewhat," she admitted. "Because one of my favorite, favorite stories of the season was when Dash did the spray painting of the mural with Kara; I thought you just found out something totally new about this guy, and it was the first time I realized, 'God, we have not peeled this onion at all.' So Mae was going to be a way into a deeper exploration of Dash's character, which is something I was wanting to do. That's a regret."
